By Yepoka Yeebo
DNAinfo Reporter/ Producer
MANHATTAN — Charter schools aren't enrolling many Hispanic students, even though they make up the largest ethnic group in New York City’s public school system, according to figures cited by the New York Times.
There are twice as many black students as Hispanic students among the 30,000 enrolled in city charter schools.
“When you create a system that isn’t going to absorb the same students for whatever reason, you are marginalizing them even further,” Lillian Rodríguez López, the president of the Hispanic Federation told the Times.
Black students make up 30 percent of all public school pupils, but 60 percent of charter school students. Hispanic students make up 40 percent of public school rolls, but only 30 percent in charter schools.
“If you are saying that these schools present and offer these ideal learning environments, then you need to make sure that these students have the opportunity to access and go to them," López added.
The discrepancy may be due to the fact that the privately run, publicly financed charter schools gained major backing from black politicians and clergy leaders, while few Latino community leaders or organizations created charter schools when the idea first gained prominence, the paper reported.
Also, there are now charter schools in heavily Latino neighborhoods like East Harlem and Washington Heights.
